Som Tam – Papaya Salad
Som Tam is one of my favorite dishes on the street in Bangkok and all over Thailand, otherwise generally known as Papaya Salad. This dish brings together the four primary tastes of Thai cuisine: sour, hot, salty and sweet.
The meal is fairly straightforward to make. The primary components are shredded green papaya, cut green beans, tomoato, dried prawns, unsalted roasted peanuts, chillies, garlic and lime juice.
These are all pounded together in a mortar using a pestle. The sound it makes is “pok pok”. Every time I hear that sound when wandering across town I usually turn-around to glance for any som tam stall.
The papaya salad is best offered along with sticky rice (khao neow) and grilled chicken. That’s exactly how I love it. However it is possible to have fish instead. There’s another recipe which includes crab.
When you come to buy Papaya Salad, it’s nearly always prepared before you. This way you can let them know just how many chillies you want! I enjoy mine hot. Papaya Salad together with sticky rice coming from a roadside stall will cost you about 30-40 baht.
Recipe
1 medium dark green papaya
4 garlic cloves (kratiem)
6 green Thai chilies (prik khee noo)
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup chopped green beans, in 1-in (2.5-cm) pieces
2 tablespoons anchovy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sauce
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) lime juice or tamarind juice (ma-kaam piag)
How to make
- Peel the papaya and wash with running water to get rid of the acid. Remove the seeds and shred the papaya using a grater. Put aside.
- Put the garlic cloves as well as the chilies in a mortar and mash with a pestle until squashed into bits.
- Place the papaya along with the remaining ingredients in the mortar and carefully blend all ingredients by mixing up with the pestle along with a spoon. Serve cold.
Enjoy cooking!
